**REGISTRATION FOR QUALIFIERS WILL CLOSE ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18 AT 5:00PM.

Paying by credit card (preferred)

If you are paying by credit card, you must go ONLY to this website: http://tickets.perotmuseum.org/auxiliary/Reserve.aspx?p=13333. Every box must be filled out in order for your registration to be complete–you MUST pick FOUR choices or you will not be able to register. You must follow all of the steps, including creating an account, in order to register. Please do not try to register in any other website (TIMS, etc).

Please try to pay by credit card! That will vastly expedite the process!

After the reservations department receives your email, they will send you an invoice. If your district or someone else is paying via purchase order, make sure to send them the invoice as soon as you receive it, and remind them that the payment is needed as soon as possible in order to compete.

Full payments must be received no later than two weeks prior to your qualifier or you will be disqualified. Even if we have already sent you an invoice, that does not count as your registration-you still need to email reservations with the above information.

Other notes

If you have very special circumstances, such as needing multiple teams to go the site, or multiple teams that need to be split up, etc., please do not include that in your email to reservations. Just include your top four choices, and in a separate email to me you can explain your special circumstance to me and I’ll see what I can do to accommodate.

If you can be flexible in your dates and location choices, please show some nice Core Values and Gracious Professionalism and be flexible! A lot of teams have genuine difficulty securing transportation, funding, parental involvement, etc., so it makes it harder for them to be flexible.

There are many factors I have to consider in assigning teams to qualifiers, so I appreciate everyone’s patience and not expecting to get your first choice-all qualifier assignments will be final!

There are more competitions on Dec. 5th than any other day! If you can do the 5th, please do!

Don’t look at it as a disadvantage to compete early-you’ll be competing with other teams who have had the exact same amount of time to prepare as your team has, so everyone at your qualifier has the same chance of advancing.

Every coach I talk to says they don’t feel ready, they feel behind, etc. So you’re not alone! Remember that the competition aspect is just small part of the awesome FIRST experience-qualifiers are super-fun, exciting events even if your team doesn’t score a lot of points or do amazing in every judging session!

There is only one qualifier on the 19th, with very limited space, so if a ton of teams choose that as their first choice so that they “have more time,” a lot of them will not get it.

Advancement: I’ve almost confirmed two second-round qualifiers, so advancement will work like this:

Very top teams in all categories for each qualifier will advance straight to the Regional Championship on February 6.

Top teams in all categories for each qualifier will advance to one of two second-round qualifiers in January, and from there top teams will advance to Regional Championship.

The exact numbers advancing from each one will follow the advancement percentages set forth by FIRST and will be determined once I have made all of the assignments and know how many teams will be at each qualifier so we know proportionally how many to advance from each.

Once you have been assigned to a qualifier, I will notify you and you will be put in contact with the qualifier host. They will provide you with specific information such as lunch options, the general schedule for the day, and the detailed team schedule.

I think this is all for now, please let me know if you have any questions, and good luck!
KRISTI CANTU
Programs Educator/FIRST LEGO League North Texas Partner
Perot Museum of Nature and Science
P 214.756.5851 F 214.756.5890 | kristinecantu@perotmuseum.org